I've now been working for a term and a half with an eleven-year-old who had been assessed variously as having autism, asbergers, and various other conditions over a period of years, on account of his impossible behaviour. His parents' file of these assessments is four inches thick, and the result of his difficulties was that he effectively received no primary education at all.
His real problem was sensitivity to light. Following screening with the Institute of Optometry kit (£50), a grey overlay enabled him to focus on a page of print, and so learn to read. He now has blue tinted glasses, and has settled into secondary school with no major behavioural problems. Using the techniques in my book, Using Phonics to Teach Reading and Spelling (Sage), we have made big inroads into his reading difficulties, and he is reading The Dangerous Book for Boys. He has, for example, read and understood the technical terms for the geological dating of dinosaurs. We still have huge gaps - last week's big success was learning the 2x table - but the lad is now able to start his education, albeit at the age of 11.
To be continued...